Update 7/28: A fix is on the way. Microsoft on Tuesday said a "limited number" of Surface Pro 3 users are experiencing this problem, which does not affect the battery itself.

"We can confirm that it is not an issue with the battery cells, and we believe this is something that can be addressed via software," according to a Microsoft Support Engineer. "We're working through the details of how we deliver that."

Original Story 7/26: Microsoft is investigating several reports of Surface Pro 3 owners who are experiencing issues charging their devices' batteries.

Beginning in May, multiple posters on Microsoft's customer support forum said their Surface Pro 3 batteries' capacity to hold a charge had degraded significantly. One wrote that her battery's full charge capacity "has degraded by over 80 percent in just few weeks."

Another posted a screenshot showing that his battery's maximum capacity degraded from more than 42,000 mWh to just under 6,000 mWh in a period of four months, starting in February and ending in May.

Other posters said that when they contacted Microsoft support via phone, they were told that they would have to pay to have the batteries replaced. Microsoft has not addressed any of the specific posts, but said that it is aware of the issue and that customers experiencing it should contact customer support.

Related

"We are aware of some customers reporting a scenario with their Surface Pro 3 batteries in which the system is reporting lower battery capacity than expected," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. "This is a top priority for our team, and we are working quickly to understand the root cause."

Because the Surface Pro 3 has been sold since 2014, the recent spate of battery issues suggest a temporary manufacturing defect or perhaps a flaw in a system software update.

In his review, PCMag analyst Joel Santo Domingo found the Surface Pro 3's battery life to be very good, lasting 8 hours 55 minutes on our standard battery test, an improvement over the Surface Pro 2's score of 7:19.

About the Author

As a hardware analyst, Tom tests and reviews laptops, peripherals, and much more at PC Labs in New York City. He previously covered the consumer tech beat as a news reporter for PCMag in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, where he rode in several self-driving cars and witnessed the rise and fall of many startups. Before that, he worked for PCMag's s... See Full Bio

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